Government school teachers in Delhi deployed as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will be eligible for special earned leave, compensatory leave or earned leave if they perform election-related duties during school vacations or holidays, the Directorate of Education has said.

The Directorate issued a circular on Wednesday after teachers' associations sought leave benefits for election work carried out during holidays. The matter was taken up following communications from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer and the Election Commission.

The instructions apply to teachers assigned BLO duties who are required to work during holidays or vacation periods. The Directorate has circulated them to heads of government schools and other education officials for necessary action.

The move comes amid continuing concerns over the use of school teachers for election-related work. In July, the Delhi High Court said election duties should not become an “unbearable” burden for teachers and stressed that their regular teaching responsibilities must be protected.

The court was hearing a petition challenging the deployment of government, municipal and government-aided school teachers for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) work. The Right to Education Act permits teachers to be deployed for election-related duties, but the court said their teaching responsibilities could not be overlooked.

The issue has continued this month. On September 17, an Electoral Registration Officer in Seelampur directed BLOs and BLO Supervisors to distribute SIR hearing notices and obtain acknowledgements from electors. For teachers in morning or general-shift schools, the work was to be carried out after the first half of school hours, while teachers in evening-shift schools were to complete the election work before their school duties. School heads were asked to make arrangements so that classroom teaching was not disrupted.

BLO remuneration

The Directorate's circular also referred to the remuneration prescribed by the Election Commission.

A BLO is entitled to Rs 12,000 annually, while a BLO Supervisor is entitled to Rs 18,000. A further Rs 2,000 incentive is payable for work related to Special Summary Revision, Summary Revision and other special drives, according to the instructions.

The leave provision specifically addresses election work performed during periods when teachers would otherwise be on vacation or holiday.

The Election Commission's existing framework also recognises the need to avoid assigning teaching staff election work during regular teaching hours. A Ministry of Education response to Parliament, citing the Supreme Court's 2008 judgment in Election Commission of India v St Mary's School, noted that teaching staff should ordinarily perform electoral roll revision and election duties on holidays and non-teaching days.